I first met Annatjie Melck in 1966. I was 19 years old at the time and she was already a well-known Stellenbosch personality and above all, a true food person. Her husband Ronnie was a giant in the wine business and as some would have it ‘a legend in his own lunchtime.’ I knew her mother Ouma Frikkie too, who worked at The Lanzerac Hotel as an old lady cooking in the kitchen. She and Maggie Pepler were part of the legend that was Lanzerac’s food at the time, famous for its buffet lunches which cost R2.50 a head and the legendary Cheese Lunch so beloved by the University Students as a Friday lunch treat when for 95 cents you could have a spread which could keep you full for the weekend.

Annatjie Melck, Chateleine of Muratie

Annatjie, together with a group of incredible women started the Fynproewersgilde. A guild of women who were keen to preserve the food culture of Stellenbosch and the Winelands, wives of some of the best-known Stellenbosch Wine farmers, Jean van Velden of Overgaauw, Liza Malan from Simonsig amongst them. They started the famous Stellenbosch Wine and Food Festival in the Stellenbosch Town Hall where delicious specialities like Waterblommetjiebredie, Pancakes were interspersed by wine stalls. Quite an occasion in the town and one to which many locals and out-of-towners looked forward each year. She and a couple of friends founded the iconic Oom Samie se Winkel, still a place where tourist buses stop off to buy memoires of their visits to the town of oaks.

Muratie Manor House

Annatjie, now the Chatelaine of Muratie where the legend lives on. I think if there is one person who could answer all your questions about nostalgia food it is Annatjie.

The recipes reflect Annatjie’s life journey from the plains of the Great Karoo to Muratie, a beautiful wine farm on the slopes of the majestic Simonsberg. Over 100 dishes interwoven with Annatjie’s life’s journey.

If you’re into nostalgia and the comfort food of your youth, this one’s for you.

I salute you Annatjie, what a truly great privilege knowing you.

Koljander, koljander so deur die Bosch is published by Lapa Uitgewers, www.lapa.co.za. It is available in Afrikaans only.

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As a young aspiring chef, Michael laid a solid foundation for his career at the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in London. Over the next 30 years he had a series of high profile hospitality management posts, was the Public Relations Manager for Boschendal and ran three successful restaurants in the Cape, one of which, Parks, featured in the national top 10 restaurants.

Michael is a family man, author and broadcaster.

A lifetime devoted to the promotion and appreciation of the South African wine and food industry has earned him many accolades, including the Lannice Snyman Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 Eat Out Awards.

Michael continues to be prolific, informative and entertaining on his wine and food website, michaelolivier.co.za and on his wine site, wine4friends.co.zawhich sells specially chosen wine boxes.